On Experiencing Verdi

’s Aida Essay, Research Paper

“On Experiencing Verdi’s Aida”

Being my first time seeing an opera, I was very much impressed by the whole

production. I did not, however think it was very different than I had

imagined it would be like. Although my opinion would have been much better if

I saw it live, it was a great first impression.

I thought that all of the characters were very well casted. I did

think that even though they were all very talented singers, they could have

used more facial expressions and gestures to play out their emotions to match

the scenes and the music.

Out of all the characters, I liked Aida the most. I thought that she

carried herself very well and gave a fantastic performance. She also had

great chemistry with Radames. Radames too, showed little or no change in his

voice or actions to display the full range of emotions that he experienced.

One of the characters that had no effect on me was Amneris. Her character did

not make very much sense to me because she was cast as a princess and since

Aida was her slave I thought that Amneris did practically nothing to stop

Radames and Aida’s love for one another. She did, however, show great

dignity. I felt much compassion for her betrayal and for her loneliness. I

could identify with Amneris very much because I think that we all would act

like that out of jealousy and rage.

The music in Aida was terrific. I thought that they wonderfully designed

the tempo to match the acts. The costumes and scenery were also excellent.

The dances gave great drama and spice to the production. Overall, I thought

that Aida was an enticing journey of nationalistic warship and hierarchy.